China is building a Mega Dam in Tibet. It is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, near the city of Nyingchi. When complete, the project is expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours every year, more than three times as much as the Three Gorges dam, which is currently has the world’s largest dam. The Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River generates a whopping 88.2 billion kilowatt-hours of energy annually.
The new project will reportedly be a series of 5 cascade dams. Cascade dams are built one after the other, in a step or terrace pattern. And each dam in the cascade stores water in a reservoir behind it. The water is released in a controlled manner to generate electricity.
China’s Premier, Li Qiang, was at the project site on July 19, to oversee its commencement ceremony. He called it the “project of the century”. The Mega Dam project is expected to cost about 1.2 trillion yuan, which is almost $170 billion. It is being built by the China Yajiang Group Co., Ltd. The company was inaugurated recently, according to Chinese state media. The news of the project commencement sent the Chinese stock markets surging. Investors celebrated the boost in infrastructure spending. But while China celebrates, lower riparian countries are worried.
While the river originates in Tibet, which is now a part of China, it doesn’t end in the country. The river eventually curves and enters India, where it’s known as the Brahmaputra. It enters the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, where it’s called the Siang River. It eventually joins up with other tributaries to form the Brahmaputra River. The Brahmaputra flows through the state of Assam, before entering Bangladesh. There it is known as the Jamuna. The river eventually joins the Ganga or Padma, and flows into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna.
The river has many names, and it affects the lives of millions of people across three countries. That's why both India and Bangladesh are worried about the potential impact of China’s Mega Dam project. Both New Delhi and Dhaka have voiced concerns. They fear that Beijing might choose to deprive them of water during times of crisis. Or, China could open the floodgates, and sent an uncontrollable torrent downstream.
China’s new Mega Dam project is going to generate more power than Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam can store almost 40 billion cubic metres of water. If that much water is ever weaponised, it would be disastrous for everything in its path. But, considering the mountainous terrain, the new cascade dams in Tibet are unlikely to have as much storage capacity as Three Gorges.
Nonetheless, India still believes that the new Mega Dam will be a security threat, especially considering its proximity. To counter this, India wants to build its own Mega Dams. The hope is that dams at the border will act as buffers, allowing India time to regulate the flow of the river. Both in times of drought and deluge.
